Kourtney Kardashian, Molly Sims, Hugh Jackman and Other Stars Who Swear by Intermittent Fasting

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Kourtney Kardashian, Molly Sims, Hugh Jackman and Other Stars Who Swear by Intermittent Fasting

Intermittent fasting: You’ve heard stars like Kourtney Kardashian and Jennifer Aniston rave about it, but what exactly is it? And more importantly, does the diet trend work? First off, intermittent fasting is almost exactly what it sounds like. It generally consists of going without food for a period of time, then eating normally. The most popular type — 16:8 — consists of getting all of your calories for the day in an eight-hour window (say, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.), then fasting for 16 hours overnight. Another method is the 5:2, in which you eat normally for five days a week, then restrict your calories severely (typically 500 for women) for the other two. As for weight loss, the stars know what they’re doing! “In a nutshell, intermittent fasting works,” NYC-based dietitian Keri Glassman tells Us Weekly. “Here’s why: For most people, you’re restricting calories and largely cutting out food you shouldn’t be eating anyway.” However, warns the nutrition pro, “That doesn’t mean that I would necessarily recommend it for everyone.” The fasting method “requires regimented commitment,” she notes, adding that for some, it can lead to unhealthy eating and “set the person up for yo-yo dieting.” The best candidates, Glassman explains, are already-healthy eaters who don’t mind skipping breakfast and can make solid food decisions even when they’re hungry. Above all, she says, besides having the willpower to fast, “you need to eat a healthy, balanced, real-food diet during the other hours.” [jwplayer w0Ppr4vi-l3ahXupL] Kardashian, who has been a longtime lover of the diet, revealed some of her tips for fasting in May 2020 on her website Poosh. “Instead of restricting what you eat, it focuses on when you eat your meals,” the article read. “IF has been shown to help with weight loss, aid cholesterol regulation, improve overall health, encourage self-control and heighten concentration.” The Keeping Up With the Kardashians star also tries to have an early dinner and stops eating around 7 p.m. In order to “squash a sweet craving,” the mother of three likes to sip on hot green tea or water with a splash of apple cider vinegar. Aniston, on the other hand, lives by the 16:8 fasting timeframe, so that “there’s no food in the morning.” The Morning Show actress told Radio Times in October 2019 that she sticks to liquids like celery juice or coffee in the morning so she can maintain a no solid food plan for 16 hours a day. Scroll down to see the svelte celebs who swear intermittent fasting works for them!

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Ellie Goulding

The British musician has a strict diet, which sometimes includes not eating for up to 40 hours. “I do it very safely by having a purposefully nutritious food day the day before and after,” the “Love Me Like You Do” singer explained during a recent interview with The Mirror in May 2020. “On the fast day, I drink high-grade electrolytes and a LOT of water (plus tea and coffee). Fasting is safe and beneficial unless you are diabetic or have serious health issues. I built my way up to 40-hour fasts over time (started with 12).”

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Kourtney Kardashian

The mother of three got back into the dieting trend in 2020 and opened up about her tips and tricks in a May article on Poosh. She “usually stops eating after dinner around 7 p.m. and then doesn’t exercise until her workout in the morning,” the article read. “She will still take our Vital Proteins x Poosh Blueberry and Lemon Collagen Vibes, which helps curb her appetite. Note: she’s not sure if that’s considered cheating on IF, but remember, life is all about balance.”

The toned reality star previously revealed on her app in January 2018 that she practiced intermittent fasting “for 2-3 months” in 2017, and would “definitely try to do it again.” As Kardashian, who fasted in conjunction with the ketogenic diet, later explained, "For me, this meant not eating for 14 to 16 hours after dinner. I wouldn't eat past 7 p.m. at night, and then I would wait to eat breakfast the next day until after my morning workout, which would be around 10:30 a.m.–11 a.m.” She also copped to taking it one step further, adding: “Then, one day a week, I did a 24-hour fast where I only drank homemade bone broth, water and green tea."

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Jack Dorsey

The Twitter CEO told Wired in January 2020 that he eats just one meal a day — dinner — as a part of his intermittent fasting regiment. He previously opened up about his lifestyle, which includes walking to work and hydrotherapy, in order to maintain a high level of performance, saying it makes him “feel so much more focused.” He explained in a March 2019 episode of the “Fitness: Diet, Fat Loss and Performance” podcast that “you have this very focused point of mind in terms of this drive. The time back from breakfast and lunch allowed me to focus more on what my day is.”

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Hannah Jeter

The model turned to intermittent fasting after gaining 70 and 55 pounds during her respective pregnancies with daughters Bella and Story. “Everybody’s doing [it],” Hannah, who has been married to Derek Jeter since 2016, told Editorialist magazine in November 2019. She noted that the approach gave her more energy, cleared her skin, helped her lose her baby weight and made her feel “incredible.”

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Jennifer Aniston

Aniston is on the fasting train! During an October 2019 appearance to promote The Morning Show with her costar Reese Witherspoon, the actress told U.K. outlet Radio Times that she practices 16:8 fasting. “I do intermittent fasting, so there’s no food in the morning,” she said. “I noticed a big difference in going without solid food for 16 hours.” The Friends star sticks to liquids like celery juice and coffee in the morning.

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Brielle Biermann

She may have ordered over $100 worth of chicken tenders hours after alleging she and her family, including mom Kim Zolciak, got kicked off of a Delta flight in July 2019. But as it turns out, the Don’t Be Tardy star may still have been following her diet! After posting a mirror selfie of herself in a tiny red bikini on Instagram on July 25, 2019, Biermann credited the time-restricted eating plan for her sleek physique. When one commenter asked, “You look so good omg! What are you doing differently??” the reality star responded, “intermittent fasting lol.”

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Evan Ross

Ross just feels better when he’s intermittent fasting. “It’s actually nice,” the actor told Us in February 2019 of the diet strategy. “It feels good. Maybe because I feel like we think we have to eat all the time, and I’d like to eat all the time, but it’s not really that necessary.” The Ashlee + Evan star — who abstains from consuming anything except water until 1 p.m. in the afternoon — tried out the diet at the suggestion of friends; now, he’s thankful for the energy boost it’s given him. “I feel less tired in the morning,” he added. “When you eat a lot in the morning, sometimes you get tired.”

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Lance Bass

Bass has gotten, well, in sync with one of Hollywood’s biggest diet trends. After he started reading The Longevity Diet, the pop star revealed that author Valter Longo, PhD changed the way he ate — and he feels healthier and slimmer. “The way it’s written is brilliant. This guy is so great,” Bass said in January 2019 at the L.A. Art Show Opening Night Gala to benefit St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. “Now I do intermittent fasting. I go 12 hours without eating, and I guess that’s healing me or something. I just do what [Longo] says!”

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Chris Pratt

On December 10, the Jurassic World star revealed he’s giving intermittent fasting a try. “So I’m doing this intermittent fasting thing,” he said on his Instagram story. “Don’t eat ‘til noon, trying to get my cardio in in the morning — super exciting actor stuff — but I finally get my coffee.” (He later clarified the coffee he was drinking contained oat milk; black coffee is allowed during fasting periods.) So far, Pratt digs the diet: “Look it up, check it out, it’s actually kinda cool,” he continued. “It works pretty good and I’ve lost a little weight so far.”

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Vanessa Hudgens

The High School Musical alum told Women’s Health in November 2018 that she used intermittent fasting to “feel healthier.” The actress revealed that “you’ve gotta pick and choose your time [and] it’s about having priorities” when choosing when and how you indulge food wise. 

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Kate Walsh

Doctor’s orders: Intermittent fasting does wonders. “I did it quite recently, before I started working intensely again,” the Private Practice alum told Us in November 2018 of the diet trend. “I saw results and I really felt like it was great.” Walsh reveals that the method she used was different than the 16:8 or the 5:2. “I was doing one day a week of fasting, from 6 p.m. to 6 p.m. or 7 p.m. to 7 p.m.” Though she admitted “you feel a little nutty,” it was worth it in the end. “I did find that you definitely lose a lot of water weight,” she says, adding that she got through the hours by eating an early dinner, then drinking lots of water the following day. “And I feel like it’s really good for clarity and energy.”

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Halle Berry

She seems to be aging in reverse, and intermittent fasting — combined with her keto diet — is one of the reasons. But Berry puts a small twist on the technique. After she wakes up, “she does a Bulletproof style coffee or she'll do an MCT oil or coconut oil with her coffee,” her trainer Peter Lee Thomas told Us in October 2018. Before a workout, she’ll also have a green juice “or some kind of green shake that's really, really low on calories, so that way you can still be in that fasting window,” he adds. The trainer notes Berry’s method of fasting is beneficial for both mind and body. “When you're doing things like coconut oil in your coffee, it's great and fuels the brain, and you can really get a nice morning jumpstart to your day,” adds Thomas. “I think that intermittent fasting paves the way for a successful start in her busy schedule. So yeah, she loves that and it's a really, really cool feeling when you can feel the power of it.” 

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Moby

For the slender musician, intermittent fasting isn’t a fad diet; it’s a way of life. “I actually do intermittent fasting every day,” Moby told Us in October 2018. “I try minimum 12 hours, usually 16. Basically, I just don't eat dinner.” He notes that skipping supper is admittedly a strange thing for him to do since he owns a restaurant, Little Pine in L.A.’s Silver Lake neighborhood. “It’s really absurd, I go out to dinner with my friends and I just don’t eat.” Still, the vegan says it’s worth it. “I like it because that way, during the day, I can be really indulgent. Then skipping dinner, there is sort of, like, a martyrdom quality to it.”

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Molly Sims

When Us asked Sims in September 2018 what her trick was for getting bikini-ready fast before the vacation she’d recently taken, the model and actress had an answer at the ready. “I mean, listen, I worked for it,” she told Us, noting that she did DanceBody and Tracy Anderson classes over the summer. As for her diet, it consisted of “a little less rosé,” she said, “and a little intermittent fasting — hard, but good.”

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Jenna Jameson

After welcoming her third child in April 2017, the former adult film star began cataloging her amazing post-baby weight loss on her Instagram account. She mainly followed the keto diet — which people often do in conjunction with intermittent fasting because the body taps into its fat stores for energy once it has entered the state of ketosis. But to break through her plateau at 130 pounds, she tried adding the fasting technique. “Holy sh--t... excuse my French,” she captioned an August 8, 2018 Instagram photo of a scale reading 125.4. “But wow. I can now vouch for #intermittentfasting.”

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Krystal Nielson

As a Bachelor in Paradise star, Nielson knows how to get a beach body stat. She told Us in August 2018 that, before filming, she put herself on her own 30-day wellness program. Besides taking care of her mental state, she focused on eating right and working out. “The exercise is the short HIIT-style training with weights. They’re explosive movements and that work you into a breathless state,” she noted. “Nutrition, you know, I love apple cider vinegar, intermittent fasting, healthy fats, lean proteins and eating food that gives you energy.”

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Tia Booth

Another BIP contestant, Booth also revealed to Us she relied on the low-calorie technique before filming the ABC show. “I've been doing intermittent fasting where I eat in an eight-hour window, and then I fast for the remaining 16 hours of the day,” she told Us in June 2018. “It's worked for me to help with bloating and inflammation and any kind of of extra fat that I'm holding onto, like in my trouble areas.”

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Jimmy Kimmel

In 2015, the talk show host dropped 25 pounds — and credited intermittent fasting for his success in both losing the weight and keeping it off. His choice was the 5:2 plan. "On Monday and Thursday, I eat fewer than 500 calories a day, then I eat like a pig for the other five days," he explained to Men’s Journal. "You 'surprise' the body, keep it guessing." His picks for fasting days include pickles, peanut butter, apples, oatmeal and coffee. 

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Brooke Burke

“I never count calories. I have too much to do to count calories, which is kind of freeing. But I do really believe in intermittent fasting,” the actress and trainer told Us in May 2018. “I eat well, I don't compromise on flavor, I love to cook. But there's so much science now behind this new sort of way of feeding our bodies, so intermittent fasting is a big part of [my wellness routine].”

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Hugh Jackman

Wolverine is fierce when it comes to staying fit. As the actor once told Men’s Health, he has often relied on an intermittent-fasting plan to drop the weight he’s required to put on for action-movie roles. “I feel so much better on it,” he said. “I haven’t put on nearly the amount of fat I normally would. And the great thing about this diet is, I sleep so much better.”

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Bobbi Brown

Turns out, the makeup maven also knows plenty about wellness! “Yogurt’s so gentle on my tummy. But then I struggle with lunch because salads are tough to digest,” she told the website Well+Good in June 2018. “I’ve learned that by doing intermittent fasting it just gives my system more time to relax.”

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Justin Theroux

Those washboard abs don’t just appear on their own! As the Leftovers alum’s trainer, Jason Walsh, told Men’s Journal in 2017, "I stay away from diets, but I like to do a little intermittent fasting with Justin." Theroux’s technique? “For two or three weeks, he stops eating after seven at night, until seven in the morning. So that is about a 12-hour fast,” Walsh explained. “Then we add amino acids at night. He has a lot of success with that."